1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic information delivery systems, and more particularly to an advertising and reservation computer network system useful in promoting restaurant services.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The globalization of our economy has evolved large, concentrated business structures to best realize cost effectiveness and optimum quality. Such large commercial structures now approach the size of whole economies, including complete infrastructures and communication networks for effecting interface ports with the consumer and supplier at both ends of the business process. Of course, on such a dimensional scale even the architecture of the communication infrastructure is highly focused to the particular aspects of the business and the external ports are also optimized.
Along with this trend in concentration there is also a trend in specialization of the employee pool. The same concerns over efficiency have also produced a highly specialized manpower pool engaged by the business prone to defer their basic activities like feeding and housing for execution by others. Thus along with concentration there is a concurrent increase in small, local enterprises providing services to the businesses' staff. Typically, these services are multivaried to match the consumers distribution of tastes and preferences, and are therefore most often carried out by minimal business structures.
Food services, in particular, are an expression of a wide variety in tastes, styles and preferences. There are those services that are devoted to pure convenience, like many of the fast food chains, and also those very specialised to a particuler taste, nutrient or ethnic pattern. Accordingly, the ‘ma and pa’ business format is especially prevalent in restaurant services, either as a local franchisee of a chain or as a singular family operation. This type of business format is characteristically underserviced by mass communication and is therefore practically concealed and unavailable to the consumer for lack of convenient exposure. Even when listed in some directory or other publication the exposure is limited in its depth and amount of information, focusing mainly on price.
The strong impetus for a varied food selection, however, persists and restaurant suggestions are a matter of frequent discourse. The subject, therefore, both forms a good base for electronic commerce and is particularly suited for customer inquiry by way of computer network.
Heretofore various techniques have been devised for electronic display, in one form or another, of a restaurant menu. One example of such a display is set out in the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,263 to Camaisa et al., useful in communicating a menu selection to the kitchen. Other examples are illustrated in the series of divisional U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,597,307, 5,624,265, 5,749,735, 5,788,507, 5,795,156, 5,839,905, 5,911,582 and 5,957,695 to Redford et al. Each of the foregoing describe paper, ROM or disc stored menus associated with a button to communicate the menu selection by a wireless ‘remote control’ to the kitchen. While suitable for the purposes intended the system described is a single restaurant dedicated system, exemplified also in U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,386 to Frantz. Frantz discloses a menu ordering system for a fast food restaurant in which the menu order is prepared and then assembled into a container and weighed to check accuracy. Thus the majority of the prior art concerns itself with the menu order communication to the kitchen.
With the advent of computer networks now fueling electronic commerce somewhat more ambitious assignments are possible. In other endeavors examples of such expanded system tasks have recently been expressed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,620 to Walker et al, dealing with airline ticket sales by reverse auction, U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,210 to Goldhaber et al, dealing with computer network advertising attention brokerage, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,056 to Boes, dealing with financial services. Some of the foregoing examples have formed the bases for substantial business ventures, serving as the vanguards of the newly emerging network commerce. Thus what used to be enclaves of personal service in ma and pa business format are now integrating into distributed architectures through the use of computer networks. These same advantages can be utilized with success in the last bastion of small business, the local restaurant. The computer network, now referred to as the Internet, allows for information sharing in easily searchable form thus exposing the restaurant to the consuming public.
The use of a network, however, entails substantial computing power. This available processing capacity may be used in conjunction with the restaurant listing to (i) enhance interest; (ii) assist in reservation and seating; and (iii) facilitate credit card payment. Additionally, the information may be linked with maps and directions to the restaurant, various attention inviting messages and other techniques for promoting and advancing inquiries to the web site. This logical coordination of information and interest enhancing techniques are a matter of driving concern in all retail commerce. Methods for economic inclusion of small enterprises in such an organized technique are desired and it is one such technique that is disclosed herein.